We Made It! :)

We are here! It's so surreal to finally be typing this as I sit in our apartment, having just settled in. It's 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Our adorable little apartment is across from an ancient Dickens-esque looking building turned into a shipping company and  the Christ Church Bentnick C of E Primary School. We can hear the sound of happy, cute British kids quite often as they play on the playground. I just heard the school bell ring too!

Also, as you read this post keep in mind I am somewhat loopy and sleep deprived and on about 50% brain power (I literally just wrote brain POWDER....sheesh.....) so bear with me. :)

So, backing up a bit for a recap on the flight. We made sure to get to our gate with lots of time to spare, so that, in turn, made plenty of time for some good old fashioned people watching, which kept us greatly amused. For some reason, we saw several guys wearing cowboy hats, an unusual item to be traveling with on a plane. The other interesting thing was that the ones we saw were either going to Sao Paulo or....get this.....Paris. Any French cowboys out there want to confess? A British guy put on a Boston accent when bringing his wife some coffee and a bagel. It was hilarious to hear, because we are always impersonating them and don't ever hear of them impersonating us.

Finally, we boarded our plane and we ended up a bit separated, due to the tickets being added at the last minute. Galen ended up being 2 rows behind us but Victoria and I got to sit together. The plane had rows of 2, 4, and 2. She and I were the sitting on the 4 row in the middle, flanked by British people. The guy I sat next to didn't talk much and mostly watched movies, but the lady that Victoria sat next to was quite nice and they chatted on and off.

The flight went well, though we didn't get any actual sleep due to the sheer uncomfortable-ness coupled with having strangers at our elbows. We rested, we just didn't sleep. We tried to watch a movie on Victoria's laptop, but we stopped because it started to make her a bit dizzy. I watched some of The Great Gatsby on the video player on the back of the seat, though I didn't get to finish it. I found the GPS graphic on the screen that showed us where we were flying over quite interesting. Seven hours later, we could see the rooftops of London in the windows. Once we touched down and got off the plane, we had to go through Customs and Border security, the only difficulty being the long wait to get to the checkpoint.

Then we rode the underground to get to the station nearest our apartment, which ended up being a good 20 minute jaunt down the streets of London. The thing I was struck by immediately was the architecture in this city!!! Even the little dinky apartments have such charm and details that you can't help but admire them. Think of the housetops that Burt the chimney sweep danced on top of in Mary Poppins-that's what the houses are like all over the city.

We had a big scare when we arrived to our apartment to find the one that we were supposed to be using occupied by someone else. Thankfully, Victoria was able to reach the apartment manager and she figured out that those people took the wrong flat, and we were supposed to be in #1 and they in #2.  We opted to stay in flat #2, which is virtually the same and which is where we are right now. I don't know what we would have done if our apartment had fallen through. The lodging here is booked months in advance! Tonight we are planning on taking a little trip to this little street by the name of Baker, so I will write about that later. Pictures to come! :)

We Are (not there) Yet!

As you would guess, I’m writing this post from my American computer in my American home.

Long story short, due to a discrepancy with the time of our flight departure, we arrived at the airport too late to go through security or check in our bags. We had missed our flight! There’s nothing like seeing that pop up on the check in screen. I think Victoria and I just stood there gaping for what seemed like an eternity but was really only about 2 minutes. Picture mouths wide open and holding up the line, with everything going in slow motion. Stunned, we managed to move our luggage over to wait for Mrs. Stringer to bring the car back around. Later, we both admitted that we both came close to tearing up but restrained ourselves. Later, when we talked to both Mr. Stringer and my Dad, they both said, “you SHOULD have cried! Tears are a great bargaining power!”

Galen broke the news to Mrs. Stringer, and she tried to see if anything could be done. With nothing to do but schedule a flight for the same time the next day, the disappointed travelers piled back into the car for another 2 ½ hour drive back home.

But, you know what? I am glad that this happened.

Why?

Because this experience is growing me SO much as a Christian.

Last week I was praying about a specific circumstance and I was convicted that I wanted things to go just as I had planned, and was controlling them to that end. I prayed, “God, I give up. I desire your will in this. You know what, while I’m at it, I also truly desire your will for every area of my life! Let your will be done!”

His will is better than anything we can devise on our own mental intellect.

But, the clincher is:

Do I really desire God’s will, even when it is hard, not expected, or what I have planned on my own little agenda? Even when it doesn’t make sense and we don’t understand why?

We had also been praying for a fruitful trip and a growing experience for all of us, personally and spiritually. I think that so far, it has been a success on that front!

Now, on to things I’ve learned so far:

1. It is possible to still be content in very disappointing circumstances. (Romans 8:28)
2. Panera’s salads are really fabulous. And the tea there is delicious too.
3. My brother is an extremely funny guy. I mean, I knew he was funny, but he regaled us with stories and such on the way back home. We laughed a lot, and it really helped keep our minds off the fact that we missed our flight.
4. Be nice to the people at the airport. They control your destiny (or is it…. your destination.)
5. You are practically invincible when you lean back and trust God!

So, Lord willing, we will leave Charlotte at 7:05 tonight. I can guarantee, with no level of uncertainty, that we will be the first people on that plane. :)

I just hope that customs won’t mind an exuberant happy dance from a certain crazy American when we finally arrive. Too bad if they do, because I'm still doing it.

Bon Voyage!

Yes, indeed. The long awaited journey will begin on Monday, September 9th at approximately 8 p.m. when we soar away on a plane bound for Heathrow airport across the Atlantic. Travellers will include my brother Galen, my dear friend Victoria and me. This will be by far the most extensive trip I have taken away from the farm and my family, as well as my first trip outside the US of A. The furthest I've been away from home was in Hawaii 4 years ago (an adventure chronicled here) which, though quite far away, still counts as the US.

Anyhow, thanks to Victoria's painstaking planning and organization abilities (for which I am exceedingly grateful) we have a fantastic itinerary prepared that includes everything we want to do. Our main base will be London, England and the surrounding environs with a weekend in Scotland and a weekend in Paris to boot.

In addition to her superior planning skills, I am also thankful that Victoria is fluent in French. From what I have heard, English speakers are not as common in Paris as you might suppose. I speak a little, about enough to order myself a croissant and tell someone to buzz off. 

Such useful phrases.

Most importantly, I am coming into this trip with a new lesson I've been learning of late, and that lesson is this:

We can be as content as we make our minds up to be. 

Being content is a choice. 

"This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it" 
(Psalm 118:24)

So, even if

we miss a train or connection,
something  is closed that we were planning on visiting,
it rains profusely,
we are pick-pocketed*
things aren't as we thought they'd be.....

*I am, however, the proud owner of a fancy schmancy messenger bag that is, by all accounts, thieve-proof. Bring it, pickpockets. Also, it is quite unfortunate that I can't bring along CJ, so I'll be on my own with regards to that front.
(CJ = Calamity Jane, my .380 Sig Sauer)

As with life in general, it's really all about enjoying every moment and the little things, even if things don't go exactly as planned. 

Taking joy in sitting a little cafe sipping tea. 
Watching the little british grandma walk down the street with her bag of groceries. 
Listening to the lilt of the British accents. 
Walking the streets of Edinburgh.

If we are taking in and are thankful for the "little things" that we know for sure we will see and experience, how much more so we going to appreciate the grand cathedrals, castles, artwork, and architecture that we have planned to take in. I am hoping to journal a great deal and blog some when I can, as I love writing and this is a great trip to indulge myself. :) This is, in part, the reason for this post. I will be chronicling our adventures on the 18 day trip right here on my blog. 

I have found that keeping a written record is such a wonderful way of using the medium of words to lock away memories and experiences so they can be savored and re-lived later on.
However, being in the possession of journals from my childhood remind me that some memories are of such a nature that we don't want to remember them.

Spilling a drink at a manners class on the instructor's daughter. That time when I was 8 years old and I experienced a wardrobe malfunction involving a two piece swimsuit and a diving board. Getting stuck in Grandma's laundry hamper and almost losing my finger.

You get the idea. Of course, I can laugh at such stories now, but at the time it was a whole different story.

Still, I'm a firm believer in journalling. The ability to be able to look back on events to see the Lord's faithfulness outweighs any obstacle and is the primary benefit.

So, now onto some pictures of the places that we'll be visiting, Lord willing.

         
                                        Edinburgh, Scotland. They have CASTLES! :)

                                                                 Scottish highlands

                                                                       The Louvre

                                                                    Bath, England

                                                                  St. Giles Cathedral
                                     

                                                  Hastings Battlfield and Battle Abbey.
                                                           Normans or Saxons? :)

                                                              And, of course, PARIS!

Stay tuned!